Less pain, faster recovery for lung cancer patients

Smoking runs in Jennifer Hoppick's family.

"Everyone in my family always smoked, all their lives, and no one ever got lung cancer," she said.

Then her doctor heard something abnormal in Jennifer's chest. She was diagnosed with early stage lung cancer.

"Sent me to get a chest x-ray, and that's where it started. I absolutely had no symptoms at all," said Jennifer.

Traditionally, life-saving treatment means a 10-inch incision between the ribs. Surgeons then need to spread the rib cage.

Now there's a less invasive approach for those who catch their cancer early. It's called video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery or "VATS." 

"We're now using multiple, smaller keyhole incisions and telescopes with long instruments to do the work that we used to do with our hands," said Dr. Michael Smith.

Surgeons make two or three inch-long incisions at the rib cage to insert a tiny camera and tools.  Guided by the images on the video screen, doctors find the diseased lobe and pull it out without spreading the ribs. 

For Jennifer, it meant a surprisingly fast recovery.

"I went back to work after three weeks," she said.

"And the good thing, too, is that the data shows that there's no difference in the long-term outcome after this procedure. So it's still a good cancer operation for early stage lung cancer," said Dr. Smith.

Now, Jennifer's cancer free and on a mission to stay that way, saying yes to a healthier lifestyle, and no to cigarettes.

The VATS procedure is available at University of Washington Medical Center.

Lung cancer advocates, meanwhile, continue to push for more research. That's the reason behind this Sunday's first annual Free to Breathe fundraising run and walk at Seward Park.